


Images of Broken Light

by Bettybot (Lizbettywrites), Lizbettywrites



Series: The Ways They Said "I Love You" [5]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-17
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-10-20 03:35:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10654065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lizbettywrites/pseuds/Bettybot, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lizbettywrites/pseuds/Lizbettywrites
Summary: If Rodimus' self-sacrifice was cheap, then what was Drift's?





	1. From very far away

Looking out into the depths of space used to excite Rodimus. It made him think of Adventure, of a Purpose, of the goal he was trying to achieve. And it still meant those things. It did. But now it had other meanings, too.

“You’ve been standing there for an hour.”

Rodimus jumped at the sudden interruption. He recovered and nodded at the intruder. “Megatron.”

His “co-captain”—he wasn’t stupid, he knew what Optimus had really meant—stepped forward to stand almost in line with him. “What are you doing?”

“Sulking.”

Megatron gave him a weird, assessing look for a beat. “Well, get it together. Your shift starts in five minutes.”

“I’ll be there.”

That pointed look returned, but Megatron seemed content to let it be. He turned and left the rec deck without another word.

Rodimus unclenched his hand and examined the piece of crystal that had been resting in his palm since its discovery under his desk an hour earlier.

_“Calcite. It’s meant to promote cleansing and reconciliation. Here, I’ll just put it with the rest.”_

He stared, unfocused, out the window. Somewhere out there, his best friend was probably hating him, and he deserved it. He closed his fingers over the rock again and set his other hand against the reinforced glass surface.

“I miss you.”


	2. With a hoarse voice under the blankets

“Somehow,” Drift noted as he followed Rodimus into the half-pipe shape on the floor, “I don’t think either of us is qualified to evaluate a teleporter’s safety measures.”

Rodimus squeezed himself into a sitting position at the middle point. “It’s just a look-over. A fresh set of optics could catch something Brainstorm missed. You never know ‘til you try, right?”

Drift made the contortion to sit beside him and look around at the rows of bolts. “You’ve changed. That’s not a criticism,” he added hurriedly, “of before or now. It’s just a little different.”

Rodimus bit his lip and glanced away. “Yeah, I guess so. A lot’s happened, you know?” He drew his knees up to his chestplate, and his mouth moved in little twitches. Twitch, still. Twitch, still.

He was holding back. “Roddy…” Drift reached a hand over, settling it on Rodimus’ knee.

Overtaxed vents hitched. That was all Drift needed to hear. He wrapped his arms around Rodimus and pulled him close. His captain—Roddy would always be his captain, never mind this co-captain nonsense—tucked his face against Drift’s collar plating.

“I missed you,” Drift murmured.

Another vent hitch. “I’m sorry.”

“We’ll get past this.”

“Love you.”

“You too.”


End file.
